A SasoDei Tale
by Fathskie
Summary: A series of sasodei drabbles. PLEASE don't get discouraged by the lack of reviews! . It's not obnoxious, and I promise you it's not disgusting. If anything, it's more of a subtle shounen-ai. R&R? xD
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello again! I must say that this is a fanfiction inspired by *another* fanfiction by DigitalSkitty called "Dark Knight". I just so in love at how she portrayed Deidara and Sasori, and I couldn't get enough of her work…+ sadly she stopped writing Naruto fanfiction… But I'm keeping Sasori and Deidara alive in my heart and in my writing. Unlike her fantastic work with her amazing plot and twist, mine just some random drabbles. SasoDei drabble.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

-,-,-

The Akatsuki is known to keep changing their base. Sometimes it was in the mountain of Iwa, another time it was an underground cave in Suna, and now it's a cave in Ame. Like their previous lairs, this base has so many rooms and corridors like a huge maze.

Sasori was sitting on his desk in his room; improving yet again a part of Hiruko. He shut his eyes in annoyance when he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in." he said.

Deidara swung open the door and marched in, oblivious to his partner. He brought in his hands his blankets, and a couple of change clothes, and of course his clay pouch.

"What are you doing?" Sasori asked in low, dangerous tone. Deidara smiled sheepishly, "You see, I think I'm gonna sleep here starting tonight, yeah."

"And what makes you think you can do that?"

"Because I can't sleep in my room... I crafted too many sculpture and before I know they covered all surface. I can't even _walk_ in there, let alone sleep in my bed." he scratched his head awkwardly.

"And why is that make you automatically can sleep in my room?"

"Because, Sasori-danna, you won't mind, yeah. You don't even _sleep_. See?" Deidara marched ahead and picked up a part of Hiruko's tail Sasori had been working on. "_This_, this is the only thing you do ALL day and night. Either that or checking in with Kabuto to create more poison."

Sasori sighed in disbelief; his fingers ran through his hair, "Even if I don't need sleep, Deidara, but I can use some time to rest. I'm not all wood, you know. I still have my human heart." he growled.

Deidara gasped. "Sasori-danna, you have a heart? I can't believe it! Why you always act like you don't have it?" with that, Deidara and Sasori were engaged in a game of tag for more or less an hour. A game of tag would be an over statement, because really, it was just Deidara running all over the place and hiding with Sasori right behind him. Sometimes the younger shinobi pulled some occasional jutsu like _bunshin_ or _kawarimi_ to dodge tag (even involving some explosions and running away in bird).

In the end, Deidara was caught by that metal cord from Sasori stomach, and being hanged upside down.

"I'm sorry! I will never say that you don't have a heart again!" he shouted in shrill voice. The older shinobi dropped him unceremoniously to the ground. Deidara dusted off and straightened his Akatsuki uniform. "Really, Danna… that's quite degrading." he pouted.

"Just remember your place, brat." Sasori replied coldly.

"Hey hey, Danna. Can I ask you something?" all embarassment seemed to be gone, and curiousity took place.

"No."

"Why do you always look so gloom, yeah? Why don't you ever look… happy?" Deidara obviously ignored the rejection.

Sasori put one hand on his hip and one hand rubbing his temple and said with a low voice, "Deidara… I swear…"

"No, I mean… it might be fun, yeah. To be happy once in a while." he grinned, oblivious to the murderous aura.

The puppeteer looked at him for a moment, and then smirked, "You think you can make me happy? And by making me happy you mean by keeping me company, instead of being a mission partner?"

"I'm still your mission partner, of course. But I'll be your roomate too, I guess…"

Something about Deidara made him want to believe it. Maybe he can relax too once in a while. This annoying brat is usually irritating, but it won't hurt to let him stay with him for a while… Probably.

"You can stay in my room. Just don't touch my stuff, don't use my blankets, don't talk to me and don't bother me." Finally the Suna-nin gave in.

Deidara grinned even wider, "Yosh! I'll start moving my things, Danna!"

Sasori stared at him blankly, "Didn't you already moved your blanket and your clothes?"

"Huh? Danna, you can't be serious, right?" and laughed away. Later, the redhead found on his desk a pile of animal design sketches, samples of mixture of clay with other materials (Deidara was experimenting if he can make the bomb any stronger), an even bigger clay pouch, a few hairbands, a comb, toothbrush, an extra scope, and two bottles of shampoo.

Sasori had immediately regretted his decision.


	2. Chapter 2

"Sasori-danna, have you ever been flying before, yeah?" Deidara flew on top of his bird, with Sasori walking on the ground beneath him.

The Suna-nin simply said, "No."

"Don't you want to fly? I swear you're missing out, Danna."

"No, I'm fine."

"It's torturing under this hot sun, don't you think?"

"Deidara… why is it that you keep on forgetting? I'm a puppet, I can't _feel_ the weather." Sasori started to lose patience.

Deidara just shrugged. They are in a mission right now, to assasinate a crime lord in Suna, and take one of his possession, the 'Amidara Scroll'. The leader wanted it… he said there's a forbidden justu there, a powerful one, lost in the years. It was rumoured that the crime lord took it from a Askanthian tribe, a tribe lived in the mountain in a non-shinobi, neutral country. How a non-shinobi country would have a scroll with such jutsu is beyond his understanding, but he wasn't there to question missions.

"I don't like Hiruko, yeah." Deidara stated.

"And why do you think I care for your preferences?"

"Because, Sasori-danna, you keep saying that puppet is art! But Hiruko is just _ugly_!"

"A newbie like you can't possibly understand real art." the Suna-nin replied nonchalantly, not in the least bothered.

"How many puppets can you control at the same time, yeah?" Deidara chose to ignore the jab.

Sasori shrugged. "A lot." he was about to kept silent, but after a thought he asked him back. "How many birds can you handle at once?"

"Hmm… Well, I never really think of it…" Deidara seemed to muse for a moment. "You know, since my _partner_ doesn't like my kind of transportation." he added with a grin. Sasori just ignored him. "Let's try it." Deidara reached to his clay pouch and made a miniature bird. He made a seal and suddendly, the miniature puffed and turned into a huge bird.

"Okay, I can have two birds."

Then he made another miniature. Sasori glanced at him and returned his gaze to the vast desert in front of him. "Watch out, brat. Don't get too overboard; you'll need to save chakra for the mission." The last thing they need was Deidara making an army of clay birds that would go either detonated or wasted, and risked getting spotted at by Suna's shinobi. The red haired shinobi didn't see Deidara smiled mischievously when he said, "Roger, danna."

The next thing he knew, he only had a split second to notice something was thrown to him, and instinctively, reflex kicked in and he jumped when an explosion took place…

… and successfully landed on a bird. _That_ other bird.

At the moment, the bird flew tall and high until it's impossible to jump without breaking a part of his body, and seeing the circumstances, it wouldn't be the wisest decision to make. _"Impressive, Deidara… Who knew you were merely acting as a fool…" _he thought, half irritated, half regretting for not noticing his trick beforehand.

Sasori ducked low, trying to balance his body in the foreign sensation of sitting on something that _wasn't_ earth, glaring at the Iwa-nin, who looked absolutely triumphant. "I got you! I can't believe I got Sasori of the Red Sand!" Deidara laughed so loud he even rolling flat on his bird.

"You…" Sasori growled.

"Let's race, Sasori-danna!" Deidara chirped and added some speed on his bird and on Sasori's bird as well… But he won't let Sasori's bird went ahead of him, of course. The Suna-nin was on the verge of being explode. Usually he was in control, but now, ironically he was _grounded_. If only he could mold chakra or control another shinobi's jutsu… but as he was no longer a human, he no longer possess the ability to mold chakra, let alone to take over another's jutsu.

He held tight to the bird's wings, vowed to teach a lesson to this oh-so-irritating little brat as hard as humanly possible.

Until he realized that the bird was a mode of transportation… just like how he always used Hiruko as a mode of transportation. And that Hiruko was a puppet…. And that the bird can be a puppet too, albeit a different medium to what he usually worked with.

For the first time that day, Sasori smiled, bright and genuine. He could thank Deidara for helping him realizing this—he wondered what kind of improvement this new revelation might bring to his puppets. But not like he would admit it to Deidara, oh no, his pride won't let him.

First, Sasori took out a couple of needle from under his sleeve; it was a poison to weaken chakra, and punctured the bird wings with it, just enough to make doors for his own chakra to slipped in without diminishing the flying ability of the bird. Second, he utilized his chakra strings and finally took a full control of the bird.

"Game on, kid." he hummed in low tone.

Deidara's laugh was halted abruptly when he saw Sasori's bird went past him. Mouth agape and eyes wide from shocked, he took a while before recovering.

"Sasori-danna! Wh-wha-"

"I'm a puppeteer, you idiot brat!" Sasori shouted from the wind, "I'll teach you to have respect for your elder." he growled. Deidara shuddered.

-,-,-

That night, Sasori and Deidara made a camp fire. Suna territory could be very hot in the day and very cold in the night. Deidara didn't look very happy with several bruises and several hairs loose from his ponytail. His danna really wasn't joking when he told him he would teach him a lesson.

Sasori was eyeing Deidara from the corner of his eyes. Silently, he reached for a ration bar from his bag, and tossed it up to him.

Deidara lifted his face in half-surprise, and after a moment he took it and opened the wrapper, "Thanks." he murmured.

"You're welcome."

Deidara glanced up to see his danna's face. He felt like he heard something in his tone, but he couldn't be sure. He then brushed it off by classifying it as a 'exhaustion after a long-day travel'. Because he felt a sincerity on the Suna-nin's words. That itself is enough proof that he's being delusional.


	3. Chapter 3

"Here's the scroll." Sasori said, handed in the Amidara Scroll to Pein.

"Did you see what's in it?" Pein asked.

"No. Though I had to stop Deidara from trying to peek." the Suna artist smirked. The blond shinobi rolled his eyes, "I wasn't trying to peek, danna! I only wanted to see if the scroll is in top condition, considering it's 300 years old!"

The leader smirked. "Yeah yeah, Deidara. I know you won't be interested in the slightest in peeking on a powerful, forbidden jutsu. Things like this are just full of mysteries, anyway. Dangerous, even." Pein said carefully, eyeing Deidara's reaction. The latter seemed to just literally drooling. Sasori sighed.

"Anyway. You should open it."

Both Sasori and Deidara stared at him with more than just a little bit surprised.

"Pardon, Leader-sama?"

"You'll let me see it, yeah?"

"Sure sure. As I said, it's full with mysteries. I think it'll be fun. Especially for you, Deidara."

For the Iwa-nin, Christmas had come early.

-,-,-

"Let's go to our room! We can look at it there!" Deidara beamed with excitement. Sasori, now starting to shown some interest as well, said, "You mean, _my_ room."

"Details, details. You'll get old fast if you make a fuss on every little thing, danna." Deidara scowled. He snatched the scroll from Sasori's hand and ran past him through the corridors and entered the redhead's room. The older shinobi wondered again why in the world he let Deidara get around him longer than he normally let any other person. Gritting his teeth, he followed his partner.

"Shall we open this together, danna?" Deidara asked, grinning.

"Oh just cut it out, will you?" Sasori snatched back the scroll and opened it just like that right at the moment.

Both heads curiously staring down at the scroll.

And the next second, both men were gone.

From the corridor, Pein frowned._ (Because Deidara and Sasori were too occupied with the scroll to pay attention to the door)._

"I see… It's a wise move afterall not to open the scroll myself."

-,-,-

Sasori and Deidara both found themselves in a dark cave, which quiet ironically resembled the sealing chamber a lot. He realized that he was missing his scroll where he kept his puppets, and that Deidara was missing his clay pouch.

"Huh? We're in the sealing chamber, of all places?" Deidara's eyes wide of shock. "Afterall that hassle, we're just being teleported back in this godforsaken place?"

"Hey, you're the one who thought of this place, don't blame it on me."

A voice. But just that. A voice, without any physical appearance.

"Can't be helped. The scroll was designed to fit only one person at a time. It's your fault for entering together."

"What do you mean, yeah? Who are you? Show yourself!"

Sasori kept silence, his mind was calculating fast.

"This is a shape-shifting place, young lads." again, the voice spoke. "You both decided it would be this place. This place must be an oddly familiar yet dark place to both of you."

"And you are?" now Sasori inquired, carefully.

"I'm your mentor for today… but you two must give me a form. And unless you both think of a same thing, I can be… the most bizzare thing your minds could come up with."

Hearing that, suddenly they see a completely odd creature—if it could be called a 'creature'—appeared in front of them. It looked like a _heart_, with the veins and all, but the color was off. It was… pale… it almost looked like it was made of _clay_.

Both artists weren't geniuses for nothing, they immediately grasped what had been happening.

"Dope!" Deidara shouted.

"This is…" Sasori took a step back. He would've paled if he could. _It can't be_, he thought, _it can't be the heart… _

"Sasori-dana… what is this, yeah?" though Deidara was probably just stalling, as this experience is just as creepy for him as it was creepy for Sasori.

"Do you know what really governs someone?" the _clay-heart_ asked them. Since there was no feedback, it continued, "It is fear_._"

Silence.

"The justu is the only vehicle to enable your mind to venture into the minds of your enemies, digging in their fear, and utilize it to your advantage."

"You mean, like a genjutsu, yeah?" Deidara probed.

"You could call it that." said the creature. "But perhaps… you would like to see an example?"

FLASH

-,-,-

Sasori was blind. Or so he thought. But he can clearly see page by page of his life flashing through his mind's eye when he felt something foreign invaded his mind, searched every nook and cranny of his memories without mercy. He felt each and every old memory was being exposed to this foreign force, and he couldn't do anything about it. He felt the changes of emotion with the flashes of memories. The childhood happiness, the pain, the bitterness. He couldn't stop the rush and he felt _violated_. This is the most horrible genjutsu he had ever experienced, really, and he wanted nothing more than it to be _stopped_.

After an excrucating moment which felt like hours and hours and hours, it finally stopped. By then, Sasori didn't have the power to stand straight anymore. He lost his balance and took a few steps back. If not because of the fact that he didn't breathe, he might as well catching his breath now.

"You know… human's mind is like a three dimensional map. The most important areas are usually highlighted. This genjutsu took 'mind control' to a whole new level." the creaturecontinued. It seemed to Sasori that the tutorial had been started. "You can 'see' exactly what happened in each of the bright points, and you can keep any of the light bulbs REAL. You can make someone re-live the most horrible moment of their life, the most happy, or the most sad. And they would lose track of both time and space. You can literally bring hell on them, trap them in their worst moment – or lend them heaven by trapping them in their happiest moment. It's your choice."

Deidara's whole face was blushing red and his eyes… were teary? "There's… not a single person in the world… have the right to… do that to another human being." he hissed, looked more than just a bit hurted, he bore his weight by resting both his hands on his knees. Sasori was eyeing Deidara with concern– and even if he himself couldn't believe it, but he thought he might even worry about him at this point.

"Are you kidding me? You're shinobi, aren't you? You're Akatsuki! You're both serial killer, please, don't kid yourselves by saying things like—"

"Deidara is right." Sasori interrupted. "I don't need this kind of genjutsu. I never was a genjutsu user, anyway." After a moment, he smiled, "My partner is young and foolish. But he got one thing correct. Shinobi might be killers and most of the times have no right to talk about morals. But we do have ethics to follow. Name it unspoken rules, but we have it."

The Suna artist took a couple steps forward. "Your way of fighting is the lowest, the most degrading way to gain any chance of winning." he spoke dangerously.

Deidara stared at Sasori in disbelief, "Sasori-danna…"

"Look at your pathetic form, you freak creature. We don't wish to learn anything from you." Sasori coldly looked down at the heart-clay creature.

Silence.

And then the clay-heart was floating in the mid-air. "Well-done, young lads. I guess this will be farewell. Oh and, before I forgot, the scroll will be obsolete now that you both denied my service. There will be…" the heart-clay seemed to be disappearing, "no more…." now the voice itself was starting to get lighter, "_Amidara scroll…._" By the end of the sentence, they were no longer could say whether they really heard it or were they only imagining themselves hearing it.

FLASH

-,-,-

Sasori and Deidara were back in their room; both were slightly catching their breaths.

"What… what was that… yeah?"

The Suna-nin staring at the scroll in front of him. It was plain paper, nothing was written on it. "We need… to do another debriefing with Leader-sama." he said cooly, standing up and walked to the door.

"Wait, danna."

Sasori stopped.

"Back then… What was your most… uh. Nevermind." Deidara looked away. Sasori glanced at him for a moment but soon went on his track to find the Leader. "Get your ass over here, Deidara. Leader-sama needed to be informed and he might not happy." he said with a tone that clearly told Deidara that he won't accept a "no".

Deidara sighed and followed him.

In the corridor, Sasori remembered a certain picture that flashed through his chain of memories. A certain person that stood out from the mass. A certain blond Iwa shinobi, whose presence might be just a little bit more significant for him than what he would let on.


	4. Chapter 4

It was a bright day, but Sasori as usual decided to spend the day lurking in his room, working on his poison. "Who's your favorite Akatsuki member, yeah?" Deidara decided to start a conversation with his partner. But as to why he chose such an insignificant theme was beyond Sasori.

"I don't play favorite." he growled in response, slightly annoyed by the fact that the blonde cut in right when he was in a process of figuring out the composition of his new poison.

"I think Zetsu is pretty cool. But Tobi annoyed me to death." Deidara continued, now lying on his side, on his partner's bed and on his partner's pillow.

Sasori thought about it a little. "I'm older than most of the member, you know."

Deidara bursted into a smirk, "How old are you, yeah? I'm turning 22 next week, you know."

Sasori smiled a bit, for whatever reason, and replied, "Forget it. You'll never know. It's one of a few things you don't know about me. And never will."

"Oh come on, Danna…" Deidara pouted, "Hmmm… Wait a minute. I heard from somewhere that Leader-sama was together with Konan-san in the beginning… so that means… judging by their look themselves… They must be about 30."

For a second, Sasori had stopped working with his needle, but not enough to make Deidara realized it.

"And you are Sasori of The Red Sand… to which I remember, to have started the name in about…. 20 years ago? Yeah…" Deidara continued musing, "You look like a 15 year old in your puppet body, so… is it safe to say that 15 years ago you were 20 years old…? So that means you're about 35 now?" Deidara suddenly shifted and wide eyed staring at the Suna artist.

"I'll tell you my age if you tell me what happened to you that make you a missing-nin." Sasori spoke nonchalantly, confident that Deidara wouldn't confide in him about it.

"Deal !"

"Eh?" Sasori dropped the needle.

"Just kidding."

Sasori looked like he was seriously debating whether or not to kill the blond. His partner rolled around, so his chest was on the bed. He rested his palm on his cheek and mumbled, "You're cold, yeah."

"Can't do anything about that."

"No, I mean you're really _cold_, yeah, you have no warmth." Deidara made his point, "I've been sleeping with you for a while now, Sasori-danna, I know it for a fact."

Sasori looked at him coldly, "Should I be alarmed by that remark?"

Deidara blinked, and abrubtly sat up and brushed his head sheepishly, realizing the implication of his sentence, "When I slept with another person, you know, _actual_ person, they kept me warm… Like, they're radiating heat. With you danna, that's not the case."

Sasori pretended like he didn't hear him, and continued tinkering with his weapon.

Getting no response, Deidara pouted and rose from the bed. He approached the older shinobi's desk and stood next to him. Sasori suddenly aware of the close proximity between them. His partner moved even closer and let his arm brushed his shoulder. "Like this, I can't feel anything from you." Deidara simply told him. He made another move and now circling him from the back. The Suna artist somehow felt Deidara bowed a little and basically put both of his arm over his shoulder, and whispered near on top of his head.

"See? Even at this close, I really can't feel your body heat."

Sasori suddenly got up from his chair. The sudden movement pushed the chair backward, consequently knocking Deidara on the stomach. And since the redhead stood up so abruptly, his chin was hit hard by Sasori's head. For a few seconds he was at loss of words, but lucky for him, Deidara was too busy shouting 'it hurts!' to realize. With Deidara keep protesting in the background, Sasori quietly regaining his composure. Afterwards he dragged him out of the room and kicked him unceremoniously to the corridor and slammed the door.

His heart was beating a bit faster than he remembered.


	5. Chapter 5

Deidara was upset. No – upset might be an understatement. He was dying of frustration. It's been a week now he was being ditched by his danna, kicked out from his room and was forced to sleep in one of the empty room in Akatsuki lair (because he still won't enter his own room). Deidara couldn't stand sleeping in an empty room, so he mostly slept in the kitchen.

Sasori was apparently avoiding him in a regular basis. He was always locking the door and won't answer Deidara's call. The blond Iwa-nin even tried Kisame for help, and Sasori indeed opened the door for the Kiri-nin. But as soon as he saw Deidara, the door was immediately slammed shut.

This was the sixth day. As being his new routine lately, at this hour he usually be on the kitchen wrapping his blanket around himself and sat in the dining room. Hidan and Itachi were there too.

"Haven't you two fucking made up?" Hidan asked carelessly.

"If we have I won't be sitting here and talking to you." Deidara snapped. He really wasn't in the mood for any conversation now. But then again, he might go crazy if he stopped talking to people in his current state of emotion.

"Did you cheat on him or something? Did you go out with another fucking gay-dude?" Hidan ignored his jab and put down his beer on the table. Wrong move, because Deidara there slammed his fist on the table and bursted out, "You noisy! Shut up!"

Hidan shouted back and made a fuss of how could Deidara spilt his drink all over the table. After much swearing and a little genjutsu (to calm him down) from Itachi, Hidan finally quited. Oddly, he now looked happy and carefree.

After making sure that his genjutsu had took care of him, Itachi said to Deidara. "Sasori-san is a fine shinobi, you know why?"

Since Itachi acted civil, Deidara had no reason not to respond. "Because he's a genius, yeah."

Itachi smiled. "I'm sure he is. But one thing that made him the way he is now, is that he has nothing to lose."

Deidara looked at him blankly. The dark haired shinobi sipped his tea and continued, "He has nobody close to him, he has nobody matters enough for him to be his weakness. He can solely devote his attention and time to improve his ability. He has little to no unnecessary emotion, and as you know, it's vital for shinobi."

Itachi stopped talking, and let Deidara drew a conclusion.

"You mean… he's lonely, yeah?"

To that, the Konoha-nin just said, "Hardship builds character." After saying that, Itachi stood up, made some more seal towards Hidan and making sure the latter followed him out as well from the kitchen.

-,-,-

That night, Deidara kept thinking on what Itachi had said. He hadn't really thought much about Sasori as _Sasori_, he usually just… get used to his presence. They don't exactly similar, it was probably even the opposite. They bitched a lot about their arts, and Sasori was just so… _boring_ sometimes. He was beginning to think that Sasori wasn't joking when he said he was his 'elder'.

A mental image of his partner, with his boyish and angelic face, his messy red hair, and his sleepy eyes invaded Deidara's mind… and suddenly he felt like laughing to the idea that such person can be categorized as an "elder". He laughed and laughed until he felt nothing more can be laughed off of. And then he just felt tired, tired and sleepy… As sleepy as the red haired guy looked with his sleepy eyes…

He drifted to sleep with a sole thought, was that he fed up with their 'fight' and him being ignored… and that he missed his company… and that he missed his room… And that somehow, it didn't feel half-bad sleeping next to him, even if he didn't have a normal person's body warmth. _Normal isn't special, yeah…_

Deidara fell asleep on the table.

That is, until he heard a rustle. Between drowsiness, Deidara soon realized where he was, he was in the kitchen table. And someone else was here, making those noises and waking him up.

He bolted upright, and stared to a person sitting in front of him.

It was the Suna artist. Deidara stared at him in shock.

"Good morning, Deidara." Sasori said flatly.

"M-morning? Morning? Wh-what time is it?" Deidara looked around, felt like he was still dreaming.

"It's three in the morning, brat." The Suna-nin answered impassively.

"W-why are you here?" now Deidara was fully awake and ditched his blanket which already fell over his shoulder and dropping to the floor.

"I'm thirsty." Sasori lied.

"Now I know you're lying." the younger shinobi scowled. He tried to catch Sasori's eyes with a glance, and rather shocked to see that the eyes were somewhat gentle.

"So you now I lied…" he said calmly, looking back at Deidara's eyes in a way he never did before. Deidara blushed. '_What's wrong with him tonight?'_ he cursed mentally.

Sasori looked away, and return his gaze to the box he had on the table next to him. Deidara was only realized it now. "What is it, danna?" Deidara asked curiously. For a while, Sasori was debating whether or not he going to do what he was about to do. But finally he gave in and said to his partner,

"A present, for you." He placed the box in front of the blond, and stood up to leave.

"Happy birthday, Deidara."

The blond blinked and saw his partner stood up to leave. He quickly grabbed Sasori's wrist, keeping him from leaving the room.

"Wh-what, danna…?"

Sasori sighed, wondering whether or not he made a mistake, "It's your birthday today, right?" Deidara blinked again, "How did you know?"

The Suna-nin started to think that Deidara was trully not as smart as he thought he was, "You told me last week that you turned 22 today."

"…Oh."

Silence for a moment.

Deidara suddenly realized that he was still holding Sasori's wrist. He released it abruptly. "Th-thank you, Sasori-danna."

The older shinobi simply nodded and said, "Well, I'm going back now."

"Wait!" Deidara stood up, "Can I… can I go with you, danna?"

Another silence ensued.

"I suppose so…"

Deidara suddenly looked so happy and can't stop grinning. "Yosh! Let's go back, lets go back. Oh and let's open this, shall we?"

-,-,-

They didn't talk about what had happened. Sasori didn't offer any explanation. Deidara didn't pursue the matter further, and didn't ask why Sasori had been avoiding him either. At least for now.

"You're mean, Danna…" he said, while opening his present.

"Don't say I was mean while opening _my_ gift." the readhead reminded him, and the blond immediately got quited. "But really, you were mean… I haven't done anything to earn your wrath." Deidara spoke again, rather grudgingly. Sasori stayed silent. He knew Deidara was right; it really wasn't that blond's fault.

"Hm? What is this?" Deidara raised his eyebrows in curiosity. He picked up something that looked like a bird from it – but not exactly a bird. It was made of wood. It had wings, funny looking wings. It has a body almost like an ellipse ball, and some kind of 'tail' on it. But in all honesty, Deidara had never seen anything like it.

"Hey, Danna, what is this?" his curiosity peaked, he hold it with his hand and move it up and down to express his frustration.

Sasori smiled. A genuine, even proud, smile.

"It's something I got from you, Deidara. The idea was from your bird. Your bird, but my style. It's a model of transportation. A flying transportation mode. It supposed to be able to fly, and carry some people on it. It's still in the most basic concept, but I have the gist of how to develop it."

Deidara just stared back, dumbfounded.

"I call it a plane."


	6. Chapter 6

Pein held a meeting on his office, but only five of the whole organization were attending: Deidara, Sasori, Kisame, Itachi, and Konan.

"Do you know what's the downside of living in Ame?" Pain asked. Konan was calmly stood next to him, looked kind of like his secretary (or his mistress?) in that situation.

Kisame was the one who answered, pretty innocently, "Uh… it's raining? All day, all year?"

Pein quickly nodded and slammed the table. He pointed his finger to Kisame, "You felt it too, didn't you? You think the rain was a hindrance?" Kisame had no choice but to trust his instict when he answered, "Uh… yeah?"

"That's right!" Pein nodded again, much eagerly, "Do you know what rain does?"

"Uhh…" Kisame stole a glance to his left, seeking for Itachi's help, but his partner seemed to be unaware of his problem, "Uh… it's… not healthy?"

"No!" Pein shouted, and stood up from his desk impatiently.

"It may cause flood." Sasori offered. Pein clapped his hands, "That's it! That's it!" he walked a few steps, circling his desk so he's now standing directly in front of his Akatsuki.

"We need to build a dam some distance downstream on the river flowing in our region." he said suddenly, commandingly and decisively. For a moment, his members were unsure what to make of this and only returned his look, but after a while, Itachi decided to politely inquire.

"Leader-sama, what do you have in mind?"

"I want Deidara to blow land and make a lake some kilometers downstream." Pain said firmly. Deidara eyes widened as he digest his 'mission'. "You want me to blow some piece of land… and make a lake… that's… AWESOME, yeah!" Deidara was more than eager, he was grinning, literally _glowing_, and if he didn't remember that Pein was their leader, he might have grabbed both of his shoulder and shook them in excitement.

"Good good, if you understand. Go now, go. Don't return before you build a nice big lake."

Deidara quickly went through the door and half-run to his room. But in second thought, he went back to Sasori's room and took out his blanket. Sasori watched his partner's move with only slightly amused. Deidara brought his blanket into his room and rolled it out there on the corridor.

"What are you doing?" Sasori asked him.

"Getting my bombs, of course! With these many clays I can build a huge lake." he carefully moved a handful of his sculptures on top of his blanket. Sasori kept quiet and only watching as his partner put more and more clays into it. "You sure it's okay? They won't be detonated accidentally, right?" his voice hinted with concern when he saw a snake bomb moved itself a little to the side when Deidara put a handful of spiders and birds on top of it.

Deidara grinned. "I hope they recognize their master, danna." but afterwards he seemed to think about it, tilted his head to the side as if debating whether or not it's actually dangerous, and stopped putting more clay animals on it. "For god's sake, Deidara, you don't know it for sure, yet you fused your chakra beforehand on those clay animals? Have you been keeping a ton of ticking bombs right here, in your room, all this time?" Sasori now practically shouting, a part angry, a part irritated, and a part just dumbfounded for his partner's unwariness.

Deidara smiled sheepishly, "Well, I thought it would be fine as long as there's no friction." He said airily, carefully folding the sides of the blanket and carefully lifted it up, went outside of the tower and flew on his bird.

The red haired shinobi couldn't shake the feeling that it's a stupid, risky move his partner was making, and it's best to be stay away from Deidara right then (and stay away from that heaps of _moving_ clay bombs in that stupid blanket!). But somehow he felt like he couldn't leave Deidara. Sasori believed this is the so called "sense of responsibility". No matter what, he was still that blond's partner, and he was still older than him. It made him feel like he was _supervising_… or so he let himself believe. So he jumped in right before Deidara took off.

The explosive expert grinned and told him, "I'm happy you'd want to fly with me again, Danna."

"Not by choice." Sasori snapped. "Better don't mess, Deidara. If I died because of this, I swear I'll see you in the other side and I'll kill you all over again."

Deidara just laughed and told him, "You won't die, Danna. I might not look like it, but I won't let you die, yeah."

-,-,-

A few kilometers away, Deidara stopped in midair above the troublesome river, "I think about here will do?"

Sasori make a quick assessment on the terrain beneath before nodded in agreement, "Yes."

"Yosh."

Deidara opened his blanket and pour ALL of the clay animals from that height. "This should be fun, yeah!" he shouted, laughing hysterically in anticipation. The clay animals won't defy gravity and fell right on the terrain below them. Some of them hit the water, but a lot of them hit the river bank. The ones which actually hit the land were exploded in contact… And that means, probably thirty to forty explosions _at once_.

Both artists were deafened by the explosion, even from such height. Deidara needed a moment to let his ears regain their function. "Whoa! Sasori-danna! That was what you called _fun_, right!" he laughed, his face blushed in delight.

"You psycho, lunatic, crazy pyromaniac…" was the only remark Sasori offered.

-,-,-

Deidara sat on his bed. Now he could actually rolled around on his bed, after he made a total of seven trips to the new-built lake and used up almost all of his clay animals. That was fun, Deidara enjoyed it a lot. Besides, for a reason he couldn't really comprehend, Sasori was with him in every single trip.

"Danna! Welcome to my room!" he chirped, showing Sasori his room and puling chairs from his desk for his partner to sit.

Sasori stood for a moment before entering his room.

"Ne, danna. It looks like I can sleep on my bed again, yeah." he chuckled sheepishly, and toss his weight on his bed. Sasori's face was unreadable, but after a moment he replied, "That's just great. Don't forget to get your stuff from my room later, Deidara. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go back to my room and make some improvement on my plane model." The Suna artist nodded formally and turned.

"Ah – danna…" Deidara tried to call him, but he didn't seem to hear him.

The blond shinobi frowned. He looked around in his empty room… and suddenly felt very alone. He stood up immediately and followed Sasori back to his room. He didn't know what to expect, but he guessed it was just about normal that Sasori handed him his sketches, pillow, and the rest of his belonging the moment he moved passed his partner's door.

"Go back to your room." Sasori said flatly, and close the door right on his face.

Deidara looked like a kicked puppy when he walked back to his room. His danna was so mean… does he really hate him that much?

When the night fell and the kitchen talk had ended, (Deidara had developed a new habit to hang out on the kitchen on the evenings with some random members, usually it was Itachi and Kisame, and sometimes it was Hidan or Kakuzu or Zetsu), Deidara went back to his own room.

His room felt surprisingly empty after he stopped living in it for weeks and even months now. He missed Sasori's room. It was clean and smelled like wood.

"Am I getting soft, yeah?" he mumbled to himself, eyeing the ceiling without the least motivation to actually sleep. Sasori was mean, and boring, and all too serious. Sometimes the redhead pissed him off like no other and made him wanted nothing more than leaving him and never to see him again. Some other time he felt like his presence was only natural and expected, and that he enjoyed his company more than anything. He missed him.

'_What?'_

Deidara sat straight. '_Did I just say to myself that I miss him? Pfft.' _Hechuckled and shook his head. '_I wanna see him, yeah.' _

After debating for a moment or two, Deidara stood up and marched to Sasori's room. He didn't even bother to knock; instead he kicked the door open.

He was expecting Sasori to sit on his desk as usual, but he was surprised to see Sasori was lying on bed, apparently just woke up.

"Do you fucking hate your life?" the Suna artist snapped dangerously, his voice rather raspy. His hair was a mess and he looked more tired than he usually was.

Deidara couldn't believe it. "Danna… did you just sleeping?"

"Didn't I tell you I can use some rest once in a while?" Sasori growled.

Deidara was still standing on the door, staring at Sasori. His eyes saw a kid with messy red hair, looking so tired, so harmless, and… so…

"Cute."

'_What? Did I just say it out loud?'_ as realization dawning on him, Deidara's expression turned into that of horror.

Sasori too, his look turned into something 'cute' to something 'demonic', and that was a point where Deidara felt afraid of his life even more than when he was transporting those heaps of clay bombs earlier that day.

Not waiting for a cue, the Iwa-nin took a flight and ran for his life with a fuming Sasori on his hair.


	7. Chapter 7

Deidara woke up the first day since he returned to his room. _Yawn._

"What time is it…?" he mumbled, looking to the clock on his wall. "6 AM? Gosh… I'm too early." He sat up and stretched. His mind unconsciously recalled last night's event. He couldn't help blushed on the memory.

-,-,-

Sasori was chasing him all over the cave, throwing poison needles along the way. Not so fortunate, Deidara was (finally) hit by a few of them, resulting in limp in both of his legs as they go numb.

"Remember to know your place, brat." Sasori spoke nonchalantly when approaching him. "Oh come on, Danna, this isn't necessary!" Deidara protested, he felt irritated that his Danna was being too irrationally sensitive. After all, he was only addressing his sempai as "cute", what's so wrong about it? Besides, he was only stating the truth, wasn't he?

Deidara blinked when Sasori stood in front of him, his expression unreadable. "What, yeah?" he scoffed, not letting his guard down, his hand readily took out a kunai (because he left his clay pouch in his room).

But no matter how cautios he was then, nothing could surprise him more than the next thing Sasori did. The older nin suddenly bend down and lift Deidara up, princess style. Deidara's eyes wide in bewilderment, kunai forgotten. "Huh? What are you doing? Let me go!" the blond frantically tried to push Sasori away, his face slowly became as red as the cloud in his uniform. But the Suna nin didn't show any sign of him listening.

Sasori kicked Deidara's door open and marched in, carelessly dropping Deidara on the bed. "Don't come again to my room, stop bothering me." he growled, stomped out and slammed the door.

-,-,-

Deidara shook his head, trying to forget what he had felt when helplessly being carried away in Sasori's hands, so close to his chest. It was a foregin feeling he never experienced before... a helpless yet exciting feeling in anticipation. One thing he knew though, he wanted nothing more than to see Sasori right then. _Now_, as soon as possible.

So he jumped from the bed and flew to Sasori's room. He stopped abruptly near his door, debating whether to knock the door or not. He chose not too. Silently, he opened the suprisingly unlocked door to find Sasori… asleep? Again? Deidara blinked. His partner surely sleeps a lot for a puppet.

Deidara slowly walked towards a sleeping Sasori, paying closely to his visage. No matter how he looked at the face, he couldn't help but seen a teenager. He had a truly flawless skin… And his lips look so soft and pinkish. _Like a kid_, Deidara quickly added, because the other idea would be him wondering how would it felt to kiss them, and that's waay worse than to the innocent thought of his partner as a youngster. He started to feel the heat creeped back to his face at this idea; certainly failed at his attempt to manipulate his own thoughts. _God now I feel like a pedophile,_ he thought in desperation.

And Sasori chose that exact moment to open his eyes.

For a moment or two, both men just staring at each other, no one had moved from their spot. The Iwa-nin was starting to worry that Sasori would harrash him yet again, but to his relief (and astonishment), the Suna-nin just closed his eyes again. "What is it, Deidara?"

The blond shinobi was momentarily at loss for words. "Uhmm… nothing… yeah. I just… wanted to see you." he said quietly, carefully testing the water.

Keeping his eyes closed, Sasori smiled. A smile which make Deidara heart beat a little bit faster.

"Have you fallen for me or something, Deidara?"

The question came out from the blue, and it rendered him speechless, not to mention he was officially blushing furiously. He took a few steps back and stammered, "Wh-what are you talking about?" and turned back so the older shinobi couldn't see him blush.

Sasori opened his eyes a little, and smile inwardly in triumph when he saw Deidara's back on him. He decided to continue the tease a little bit more.

"Have you missed me already, Dei-chan?" he said nonchalantly, his eyes closed, and the smile was still there.

Deidara turned back to face Sasori, his mouth opened to answer but no sound came out from it. Finally he closed it again in defeat, and stomped out from his partner's room.

Sasori laughed inwardly. That was score one for him and zero for Deidara. He rolled around so he was lying on his side… As his thought trailed off… a revelation hit him like no other.

He was the one who more likely missing Deidara.

-,-,-

A/N: Hey! Thanks for reading ^^ Well this fic got a few faves and subscribers and I really appreciate it,, but what I truly crave about are Reviews! It's already chapter 7 and I still got zero reviews *cried* Not that I'm a sucker for reviews,, more than that, I really wanted to get some feedback about how I'm doing. Am I doing well? Am I doing 'okay', am I doing less than 'okay'? Regardless of the reviews I will still continue writing, because that's what fanfiction is all about, right? I'm just saying that I would MOST appreciate it if anyone could bother assessing/ evaluating my chapters this far .

Thank you for reading this A/N and I hope more people will read my work ^^

-fath


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Yaay! Finally I got my first reviews! *hugs*

A little change will be made on this fic. You know how chapter 1 – 7 were more like… one shot drabbles? Well, I'm trying to add a bit of plot into this, also to invite other characters to the story as well. This arc is inspired by one of the chapters from Detective Conan and a certain KakaSaku fanfic by J-Pop Princess (and also Digital Skitty's Dark Knight, but that goes without saying). I hope you would enjoy this as you've enjoyed the previous chapters!

-,-,-

Now, Akatsuki wasn't exactly advertising themselves for missions, and even less people would want to hire their service because of the highly volatile variables to watch for, not to mention the ridiculously high amount of payment. But on the flipside, Akatsuki didn't belong to a certain country, and as long as a potential client can come up with a certain sum of money, (and can find their base, that is), then the mission's good to go.

Currently, Pein was reading the official letter handed by a jounin messanger; it was an Ame jounin, conveniently. It was said that a daughter of a certain Ame Lord had been kidnapped by a group of bandits and is being sold in a far village… and by 'far village', it meant Konoha. Pein raised his eyebrow a little. "Interesting… Konoha, huh?" he whispered to himself.

"Okay. Suppose I can agree with the conditions. Tell your Lord to expect his daughter in less than a month." Pein told the jounin, who nodded and disappeared soon after.

"Konan, get Hidan, Kakuzu, Sasori and Deidara." Pein told Konan, who immediately created some butterfly origami seemingly out of thin air. Those butterflies flew away, summoning the two members.

-,-,-

"You got a mission for us?" Kakuzu was eyeing the mysterious paper lying on top of Pein's desk.

The leader nodded. "Yes, apparently I do. And it came at the right time too, considering we need all budgets possible to carry out our next big plan." He continued, "Now, I want you four to go undercover and rescue a certain girl name Akane who had been kidnapped and now is believed to be kept on Konoha." Pein handed them the picture of an eighteen year old girl.

"Whoa, she's so plain," Deidara grinned after he made a quick scanning on the picture.

"Konoha… what was their jinchuriki again?" Hidan's musing, looked like he was tyring to remember.

"Kyuubi!" Pein snapped impatiently. "But you are forbidden to make any contact with him, or doing anything related to it. This is entirely different mission. Besides, he is Itachi's assignment, not yours." Pein continued. "You can find the details on this scroll," Pein motioned to Konan, who then gave them the scroll. Deidara immediately opened the scroll and scanned it, but instantly lost motivation after he saw all the complicated details written there, leaving the scroll into Kakuzu and Sasori's hands.

"You will be divided into two groups. First group will be Deidara and Sasori. You both are supposed to infiltrate the bar this Akane girl was being kept on. You two will be _undercover_ _as girls_." Pein carefully stressed the last word. Hearing this, Sasori looked like he had just been told that the sky is green and dogs can fly. Deidara, on the other hand, perked up with a glint in his eyes and a smirk in his mouth. "Well, this can be interesting… I wanna see Sasori-danna as a girl, yeah!" he grinned as Hidan and Kakuzu laughing their asses off.

"Silence!" Pein snapped, which immediately resulted in a quieter Hidan and Kakuzu. "Moreover, Kakuzu will act as messenger from Ame who's bringing in the girls and Hidan, you'll be his bodyguard." Pein instructed.

"Why do we need to be undercover, yeah? Isn't it better to just grab her out and then blow the place up?" Deidara suggested carelessly.

"Because, Deidara, Konoha is currently the strongest shinobi village, with two sannin and the Nine-tails. Not to mention they have the strongest clans with bloodlimits. We can't afford a clash with them right now, not until we finished our preparation for the big plan. Please do use your head before you suggest another obnoxious idea." Pein said irritatedly. Sasori frowned, feeling for Pein's annoyance. That's what you got from Deidara sometimes…

"So…" Hidan snickered, "How do you suggest these two idiots being disguised as girls?"

-,-,-

Sasori can't help but cursing Pein mentally. He? Became a girl? Had their leader gone mad?

"You're not advised to use henge." said Pein, "Henge is simply an illusion, and Konoha is a shinobi village. Moreover, you'll be staying there approximately one to three weeks, and keeping up a jutsu for 24/7, even the one as basic as henge, will drain your chakra eventually. Instead, you can keep your normal appearances, just… enhanced it a little bit more."

Oh great, now Hidan and Kakuzu can have their justification when calling him a fag, Sasori silently groaned.

"Question!" Deidara raised his hand.

"Yes, Deidara?"

"How about our costumes?" contrary to Sasori's gloom expression, Deidara looked eager, if not enthusiast by the prospect of crossdressing.

"Good point. You can go with Konan to raid Akatsuki wardrobe, pick whatever kimono or dresses you like. Konan, if you would." Pein waved his hand, as if signalling Konan to begin the make over. The woman rolled her eyes and walk straight passed them down the hallway, which was closely followed by an enthusiast Deidara, a laughing Hidan and Kakuzu, and a ghostlike Sasori.

Konan brought them to a room where Akatsuki kept their costumes. There were all kinds of dresses and kimonos for both men and women, not to mention all kinds of hitai-ate from all countries. Sasori seemed to be bored, staring blankly to the heaps of clothes and accessories in the room, none of these activities peak his interest. Hidan and Kakuzu pick ones for themselves, some simple non-shinobi yukata for Kakuzu, and some shinobi outfit for Hidan. They decided to let Hidan wore an Ame hitai-ate as to make it more believable. "Hidan-san, I'm sorry but you'll have to transform your sycthe into something else, or at least put it into a scroll." Konan reminded him. Hidan scoffed, "By Jashin—I'll put my scycthe wherever I want, woman!"

Konan dropped the kimonos she was holding and looked straight in his eyes. "You. Will. Put. Your. Sycthe. In a scroll. Or transform it. Into something else." She spoke in a low and dangerous tone. Hidan opened his mouth but then closed it again, mumbling, "Fine."

Konan continued the briefing as if nothing happened. "Kakuzu, your name will be Kotaro Ishigoro, a messenger from Ame. Hidan, you'll be Yamashita Kenji, his bodyguard." she explained, "Now, Deidara, you'll be Ishiko-chan, and Sasori, you'll be Hiruko-chan."

Sasori sighed and let his face fell. At least he can have Hiruko's name, for better or worse.

"Wear this wig, Sasori-san. It's red, just like your hair." Konan handed a red wig to Sasori, who – against his wishes – caught it. Deidara smiled brightly and told him, "You'll look super-cute in it, Danna!"

Sasori glared at Deidara, but soon lost the will to defend himself when he realized the kind of sad fate waiting for him. Deidara curiously watched him as the Suna artist took off his Akatsuki cloak and put on the yukata Konan gave him. It was a simple green Yukata which tied by a red obi and red sash. After he put on the wig, Sasori of The Red Sand now is no longer Sasori, but Hiruko-chan, a mysterious girl with long wavy red hair with perfect facial features and soft-pinkish lips. Even his lidded eyes looked sensual instead of sleepy.

"Ooohh…" Hidan, Deidara and Kakuzu cooed in unison.

Sasori made an expression at the sound his comrades made. Deidara thought that it had to be how Sasori would look when he blushed or flustered. He couldn't blush, of course, because it's just physically not possible—but it was Sasori's own unique way of blushing.

"Danna… you look SO CUTE!" Deidara cried in excitement, trying to hug his partner but immediately knocked down even before he made the move. Grudingly, Deidara wiped off the blood dripping from his nose _(Sasori could really punch)_, and sullenly said, "Danna, you might look cute, but you lack a certain feminine charm!"

Saying that, Deidara proudly stripped off his Akatsuki cloak and put on the pink kimono with blue flower pattern he found in one of the shelves. He took off his hair tie, letting his golden hair fell on his shoulders, suprisingly long enough down to the small on his back. Afterwards he made a few seals and said, "Boisu no jutsu!"

A girly Deidara, with a very much female voice spoke to him. "This is a voice-changing jutsu I learned years ago in Iwa, mind you, I created it myself." he said proudly. "Well, Sasori-danna, what do you think?" Deidara smiled alluringly, challenging his danna. He was still look like Deidara, but with the kimono, his hair loose and with that voice, Sasori couldn't help but felt that he was infact, talking to a woman.

"Hmm. Not half bad." Sasori made a quick remark, "At least you'll be less likely to blow up this mission, Ishiko-chan."

Hidan and Kakuzu were laughing out loud, in triumph that now the two prettiest boys in Akatsuki have really put themselves in such predicament.

"Oh shut up, you two!" Sasori growled, but Hidan and Kakuzu only laughed even louder. Sasori was too cute in that lolita look, and the way he got mad only added to the cuteness. Deidara coughed between his laughs and told Konan, "Konan-san, if you have a camera, I'd want you to take our pic together, yeah!"

Konan tilted her head as if remembering something. After a few seconds she nodded. "I'll take your picture tomorrow. Now let's get ready through some more details."


	9. Chapter 9

None of them had been to Konoha before, at least not in a long while. The Suna artist was forced to learn Boisu no Jutsu from Deidara, so now he too had a girly voice. Sasori been quiet on the road, mostly because he felt irritated everytime he heard his own voice. The fact that Konan had just taken his picture together with Deidara (with the blond practically _clinging_ on him) was only succeded in adding fuel to fire.

The journey took two days on foot, and if they hurry they can make it one and a half. The sun had already set a couple hours ago when they finally set foot on Konoha in the second day.

"On guard." Hidan hissed when they entered the gate. After stating their names and their purpose through some brief inspection, the guard let them pass. Sasori and Deidara remained quiet as Kakuzu strolled towards the bar.

Kakuzu turned left and right, went through some narrow alleyways and long narrow streets. As they proceed, the scenery gradually changed. Apparently, they're walking toward the shabbiest spot in Konoha. When they arrived outside the building, Sasori lifted his face to read the bar sign. It said: "Wet Dream Club"

His mouth fell. _What the?_

"Wait a minute…" he hissed, "Kakuzu, are you sure this is the place?"

"Hmm… not the place I'd chose, but yeah—this is it, _Hiruko-chan_." Kakuzu growled at Sasori, reminded to use the fake name. But seriously…_ what kind of place is this?_

When they entered the building, more than the smoke and crowd, the four men were blinded by the view on the far stage. Five girls, all in minimal fancy outfits, dancing on the stage and posed in all erotic positions known to men. Sasori mouth fell for the second time that night. There is no way, no chance in hell he would acquaintanced himself with any of these people. He was about to abandon the mission and took Pein's wrath when Deidara caught his wrist.

"Hiruko-chan, come on, stay with me. I'll protect you." he smiled reassuringly. Sasori could sense solemnity in his tone and the way Deidara looked at him. For a moment, both (female-looking) men glared at each other in silence. Sasori was sending all the signs that clearly showed his refusal to compromise, while Deidara gave him the look that said 'I know it sucks but bear it with me. Besides, hey, know knows, it might be fun.'

The silent argument finally ended with Sasori's defeat. His eyes widened in shock and total annoyance when Hidan smacked his back and grabbed his shoulder firmly, turning him to face a certain big old geezer. The Suna-nin didn't even realize Kakuzu had continued with the mission when he saw him talked to someone who he suspected must be the owner.

"This is Hiruko-chan, and the blond one is Ishiko-chan." Kakuzu said, all businesslike. The owner paid the 'girls' close attention and inspection. He took Sasori chin and lifted his face, inspecting his look from every angle. No words could describe how much resistance Sasori put in himself not to lift his hand and kill this person.

"These are some raw jewels you're bringing me." he commented. "Very well, I can take them."

-,-,-

Sasori couldn't have blushed or looking flushed, it was just simply impossible. But Deidara looked at him with concern when he saw his expression as his danna was furious. Deidara couldn't do anything but shifted a bit to the side so his shoulder brushed Sasori's, as a gesture of assurance that he was there with him.

He didn't pay too much attention when Kakuzu talked about payment with this old geezer, instead, he was only watching Sasori all the time. He wanted nothing more than to hug him and protect him… but a sight of scroll hidden behind Sasori's obi reminded him that his partner, in fact, was more than capable to take care of himself when it comes to it. So really, why would he felt all these unnecessary feeling about wanting to protect him?

"Both of you can start working as a waitress tomorrow night," the owner said. "You can refer to me as Daidoji-sama, and keep in mind that I won't take any rebelious act, I don't want cat fights, and most of all—stay away from the performers. They're all in a completely different league than you." he spoke coldly. "This is Risa, my right hand. Find everything you need to know from her."

After that, Daidoji turned his attention back to Kakuzu, "When will you go back to Ame?"

"Probably in two weeks. I want to stay a little bit in Konoha."

The bar owner nodded. "That's great. I believe we haven't acquaintenced before, I think we can talk some more about business." he casually motioned to his 'secretary' (or so Deidara thought she was), to take them away. Kakuzu silently nodded to Sasori as to say, 'Be careful. Find that girl and we can all go back.' to which Sasori nodded in return.

By then, Hidan couldn't be bothered anymore. Taking a seat from the first rows, he was glued to his chair; hungrily carving the erotic views that was happened on stage into his brain. He already thought that this mission wasn't so bad after all. Kakuzu could only hope that his partner would remember to searched for Akane's face instead of drooling over the strippers.

-,-,-

Risa seemed like a lovely woman with a distinguished kindness in such godforsaken place. "We have three servers working every night," Deidara noticed that she used the term 'server' instead of 'maid' or even 'waitress'. Something to do about her personality?

"Now, Ishiko-chan, Hiruko-chan, the problem is we only have one room for all of you to sleep in." she continued, "I hope you don't mind sleeping together with the other girls? Don't worry, it's a big enough room designed for eight people, so it shouldn't be too crowded."

Deidara quickly smiled and nodded, "Of course, it's not a problem. Thank you, Risa-san." He threw a glance to Sasori, and expenctantly the Suna-artist looked even more annoyed at the news.

Once Risa showed them their room, _(which as she said, it was pretty big),_ she left them alone after telling them to come to the kitchen for dinner.

"Hiruko-chan, have you seen Akane, yeah?" he whispered once Risa had gone. Sasori shook his head, "I couldn't see clearly with the crowds and the smoke, but I don't think I saw her out there. How about you?"

Deidara frowned. "I don't have my scope yeah, I can't really tell. But I didn't see her either."

Sasori had been lived longer than most of the Akatsuki members, and there was something only experience could explain when it comes to intuition. Right then, the Suna-nin couldn't shake the strange feeling that something was about to happen on in this mission. He felt something quite inexplicable in the air warned him. Call it a hunch, he would bet his left leg it would be anything but what Pein had just described to them a few days ago. _"Go in, find her, get out."_

This caused him an immense uneasiness (not to mention that the longer they stuck in this mission, the longer he stuck with the disguise).

"We should start asking questions tomorrow." he decided solemnly.

-,-,-

The first night they spent without any notable incidents. Both Ishiko and Hiruko ate their dinner quietly in the kitchen, and then returned to their room. They did their best scanning the room for Akane, but no luck so far. When they returned, none of the girls were back, so they decided to raid the room and look for clues.

Apparently, four girls were living in the room, judging from their belongings. Together with Ishiko and Hiruko, there would be six girls in total. Three girls were out there serving, and one must be gone for the night.

The girls, after they officially met with the tree of them the next day, were from different countries. The quiet, black haired girl who's named Aya was from Komogakure, the navy haired girl (she introduced herself as Mari-chan) was from Oto, and the petite girl with brown hair named Meisa was from Konoha.

Ishiko and Hiruko tried to gain as much information as possible from them, lucky that all three women were highly cooperative (mostly because Deidara could be so charming if he wanted to).

"Is there… no one coming from Ame?" he prompted carefully.

"Oh yes, our newest member is from Ame, isn't she, Mari-chan?" Meisa nodded to the navy haired girl who nodded back. "Yes, I think Akane was from Ame."

If this revelation meant something to them, Ishiko and Hiruko kept their face straight, if only showing a polite interest.

"But where is… this Akane-san? Is she not here?" Deidara asked again. He didn't know what to expect but certainly wasn't this: as soon as the girls heard him, they bursted into laugh. Sasori and Deidara looked at each other in confusion.

"You can't tell her that you heard from us but…" Meisa lowered her voice in a giggling whisper, "She's visiting her boyfriend, that ultra-handsome looking guy from Kusa…"

"She _what?_" Deidara was dumbstruck.

"Uhh—what time do we usually have breakfast?" Sasori quickly cut in, before the girls realized the peculiarity in Deidara's manner.

"Oh yes! Speaking of breakfast, let us cook for today, and you can have your turn tomorrow." Meisa smiled and stood up, followed by the other girls.

"Ishiko-chan, Hiruko-chan, you can go ahead and use the bathroom if you want. Come to the kitchen when you've done showering." Mari-chan opened the drawer and took out a few towels. "Here's your towel. We don't have anyone here so we're taking care of each other. Make your self home, okay?" she smiled sweetly, handing out the towels to both Sasori and Deidara.

"Ah… thank you." was the only answer Deidara can come up with.

-,-,-

"So much for a 'rescue'." Sasori scowled.

Deidara put one hand on his hip and one hand raked through his head. "A Kusa guy? Really? Pein didn't say anything about it…"

"Actually, Deidara… he did."

"Huh?"

"You really didn't read the scroll, did you?"

"Huh…? Ahaha." Deidara grinned sheepishly.

The older shinobi sighed. "It was said that the kidnappers were originally from Kusa, which they suspected were working for Kinomoto family, one of the most powerful family there."

"But still, it didn't explain why Akane would… spend the night with the Kusa guy." Deidara chose his words carefully, his expression puzzled.

It wasn't as if Sasori didn't have a clue of what was happening. The worst case situation was that Akane wasn't kidnapped, but by her own will, decided to runaway together with this Kusa guy. When it comes down to it, they will have to use all means to subdue her before taking her back to Ame—because a girl in love would most likely stand strong by the one she loved, regardless of consequences. However, it would be quite problematic to carry an unconscious woman through the gate…

"Hiruko-chan," Deidara's voice startled him from his thought.

"Hmm?" he glanced at his partner and raised his eyebrows. Deidara looked… self-conscious, if not embarrassed.

"Do you want to take shower together?"

Sasori stared at the blond for a good one minute, blinking a few times as his mind trying to digest his words.

"I mean—we can finish faster, yeah... And… more water efficient…." Deidara mumbled, trying not to catch Sasori's gaze.

As realization dawn on him, the Suna artist made that expression again, the one Deidara classified as 'a-look-Sasori-would-if-only-he-could-blush'. Deidara grinned inwardly in triumph. _Payback for the other day, Danna! This is score one for me and zero for you. Well, one for me and one for you, if you count that last time. But whatever._

Deidara crept to Sasori's side and start clinging on his arm. "Shall we take shower together?" he prompted, his face was undeniably red. _If I'm going down, you're going down with me!_

For a moment Deidara believed that he had won, that it was indeed score one for him and zero for the redhead. But then his partner smiled, in his angelic, lolita smile, placing his hand on top of Deidara's and squeezed it gently. _Huh?_

"Ishiko-chan…" the Suna artist turned slowly to his partner. His eyes lidded, his soft lips parted, which for a second made Deidara lost focus on whatever he was planning on doing. "Ishiko-chan… I…" Sasori leaned closer and brought his lips close to Deidara's ears. The blond Iwa-nin felt dizzy…

"… Am a puppet, idiot! I don't sweat and I don't have a reason to take a shower." he hissed, and before Deidara regain his composure, Sasori smacked his partner's head so hard it made him fell on the floor, holding his head in pain.

"Ittt hurts!" he screamed.

Sasori stood up, his poker face was reinstalled back where it supposed to be. He took a towel and threw it to his partner. "Go get your shower. I'll keep watch."

Grudgingly Deidara took the towel and—still rubbing his head—went to the bathroom, which quite conveniently inside the room.

Listening to the splashes of water as Deidara took his shower, Sasori rolled his eyes when he realized this could be troublesome if continued. They're lucky now, but the thing about luck was that they tend to run out.

_Living with four girls in a room might be problematic,_ he made a mental note._ More reason to get done with this mission and get out of here as soon as possible._

=,=,=,=


	10. Chapter 10

Akane, from lack of word to describe, was an ordinary girl. She was plain at the picture they got from Pein, and she was plain in person. Nothing could be noted from her look. Except for maybe her eyes shining brightly like the stars, her lips flushed with happiness, and her skin glowing like a lightbulb.

_Oh great, she's in love,_ Sasori groaned mentally.

They have introduced themselves earlier this morning, and Akane told them that yes, she came from Ame two weeks earlier.

"Uhh… Akane-chan, are you… uhmm… I mean, did you decide to go here and work here by yourself?"

For a second her expression turned solemn, but immediately smiled again. "No… I… I was kidnapped against my will."

Sasori and Deidara were surprised in the confession. _So she doesn't have problem admitting it, even to the people she just met. What _exactly_ had happened?_

"That was… But … don't you want to go back, Akane-chan…?" Deidara played his role perfectly, as a concern and caring female friend. For a moment, Akane looked down to her lap, avoiding Deidara's eyes.

"I can't." she answered quitely. "I can't… I can't leave Mori-sama."

-,-,-

Back in Ame, Pein was sitting in his office, reading books as he researched on creating his new jutsu when Zetsu appeared.

"So, what news can you gave me?"

Zetsu was originally a dichromatic creature, but right now he was just black. "It appears that this Akane-girl wasn't the true daughter of Amasaka family." the black Zetsu told him. "She was kidnapped from her real family eighteen years ago."

Pein raised his eyebrow. "And who is her real family?"

"White-Zetsu is still on it as we speak, but we knew that her real family was from Kusa."

"Hmm…" Pein contemplated this new information. _She was kidnapped by Kusa bandits, yet she was originally from Kusa. Coincidence? _

"Might be important, might be not. Send a bird to Kakuzu once you know her origin."

Zetsu nodded and disappeared.

-,-,-

Sasori and Deidara were having a meeting at Hidan and Kakuzu's place that night. The 'back up' squad—or so Pein refered to Hidan and Kakuzu group—were staying at a nearby inn.

"Stockholm syndrome, is it…?" Kakuzu repeated what Sasori had just told him. Like Sasori, he found this to be troublesome.

"What is a fucking Stockholm syndrome?" Hidan asked anyone who care to answer him. As much as he didn't wish anything to do with the Jashinist, it was Sasori who brought up the theory in the first place, so he explained. "It's a condition where hostages express empathy and have positive feelings towards their captors. In Akane's case, this syndrome had developed into love."

"What? That's fucking stupid! None of my victims had ever shown me love!" Hidan protested. Sasori decided to ignore him when Deidara decided to elaborate a bit more. "The victims essentially mistook the lack of abuse from their captors for an act of kindness. In your case, Hidan, you killed your victims, so that's out of the questions."

Hidan scoffed to this answer.

"This is hardly our problem, Sasori. We can just knocked her out with one of your poison and bring her back to Ame. Done. Finished. That's our mission." Kakuzu remarked.

Sasori frowned. Something was telling him there's something more than what met the eyes, but he had no valid reason to argue with Kakuzu. He was about to give in when Deidara cut in.

"Actually… I've seen this Mori person before."

All heads turned to him.

"Where?" Sasori snapped, half angry because Deidara didn't tell him anything about this, half curious.

"I saw him when he dropped Akane at the bar this morning. I saw him from my bathroom window."

_Oh. It was when he took the shower_, Sasori realized.

"And?" Hidan beckoned him to continue.

"I've seen him before, back in Ame. He was an Ame jounin. I saw him patrolling the gate." His comrades showed a different reaction of surprise at the information he brought them. "I'm not mistaken." Deidara nodded in confirmation.

-,-,-

It was hardly their problem, as Kakuzu said. But the group finally agreed that there are mysteries that needed to be solved before they can take Akane back to Ame. Otherwise, she would just going to disappear again—which resulted in they would have to search for her all over again.

That morning, Sasori casually held a conversation with Akane without Deidara around (he was out finding clues about this Mori person—since he was the only one that had seen the guy).

"I miss Ame already." said Sasori suddenly when he was washing dishes together with Akane. The girl tilted her head and nodded. "I missed it too."

As she didn't seem to be talking, Sasori tried his best to keep the conversation going. He needed information, anything. But this really wasn't his area of expertise. Since when was he a people person?

"I'm not originally from Ame though." Sasori said. Akane looked at him with polite interest, "Oh? Then where are you from, Hiruko-chan?"

"I'm from Suna." Sasori decided he might as well mix a little bit truth into his lies. "I lost my parents at 12 and since then been living with a relative in another country." he told her nonchalantly_. A story which guaranteed will earn every woman's sympathy,_ he smirked mentally.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, Hiruko-chan… You know, I'm also not originally from Ame."

Sasori maintained his poker face and said, "Oh? Where were you from then, Akane-chan?"

Akane finished washing her plate and now drying it with a towel. "My dad said I was from Kusa."

"…Have you tried… to find your real family?" Sasori chose his words carefully, rinsing his plate.

Akane shook her head, "No… no one ever told me anything, you know?" She dried her hands in her Yukata and turned solemnly, hiding her face from the supposedly red haired girl. After a few moments of silence, she turned back to him, suddenly ran and grabbed his wet hands. Sasori's eyed widened in the sudden contact.

"Can I tell you something? But promise me you won't tell anyone…?" the girl asked him desperately. Reluctantly, he nodded.

-,-,-

Deidara gritted his teeth as he ran back to the bar as fast as he could without raising suspicion. Sasori was right, there was something abnormal about this mission after all. It wasn't the fucking Stockholm Syndrome. Hell, he wished it was something that simple. He held a letter from Zetsu on his hand, arrived just a moment ago. A simple letter which hold the bitter truth behind all this drama.

"_Team Kakuzu, I got information for you. Eighteen years ago, Yanburi Amasaka attacked Kinomoto family in Kusa. They killed the wife and kinapped their daughter, Akane. We believe her family didn't know she was still alive, and mistook her as the true heir of Amasaka family. Most likely Kinomoto family wanted to get revenge on her adopted father, so they kidnapped her to kill her later. Addition mission from Pein, eliminate any ninja related to Kinomoto family, as they would be a threat for her wellbeing in the future."_

Deidara growled. Zetsu was a wonderful spy and all that, but he lack _details_. Give him any task and he will do it matter-of-factly. The only things he tends to overlook were usually the most important ones.

The emotional aspect. The psychological cause. He never really looked beneath the underneath, that dichromatic man. Deidara cursed while adding his speed.

-,-,-

"We were dating, Hiruko-chan, Mori-kun and I. Back in Ame. I know him for years now." Akane started, when both of them were alone in their room. "I knew Mori-sama and I were meant to be together, Hiruko-chan. We were born in the same day and the same year, and sometimes when we were sitting in silence, we know what each other were thinking." Akane looked at Sasori with a sad smile, but continued confide in him. "He even proposed to me properly, Hiruko-chan. He went as far as talked to my father, asking him my hand." A tear drop fell on his cheek as she continued.

"When father heard that he was Kinomoto's heir, father got very angry. He was furious. I don't know what made him mad but he was furious, he told the guard to chase him out…"

Sasori pushed the urged to shake his head in exasperation. If what he was thinking was correct… this would be one bitter truth for everybody.

"We can't… we can't live without each other, Hiruko-chan. We just can't. That's why he made the scheme. He kidnapped me from my home, wearing those Kusa hitai-ate to let my father know that he was serious. That we're being serious." now she was openly sobbing, "We chose Konoha, you know, because this is the safest village. No one would know that we were here. Right now he is trying out as a Konoha jounin, he said that I should stay hidden in the bar, away from anyone. I didn't even serve the guests, Hiruko-chan, I stayed in the kitchen all the time. I do laundry, I cook, but I never go outside to meet people. Mori-kun knows Daidoji-sama, he said Daidoji-sama is a distant family who will do us favor."

Sasori frowned. Now it all made sense. Why they were here, why Amasaka family knew she was here, and the reason of his uneasiness towards this mission. Unconsciously, he raised his hand to pat her on the head.

=,=,=,=


	11. Chapter 11

Akane flinched when Deidara suddenly opened the door and bursted inside. For a second he exchanged looks with Sasori, and by the look in his face, knew that his partner had come to the same conclusion as he did.

"Akane-chan…" Deidara frowned, with three long strides he bend over and hugged her tight. Akane, whose eyes were still red, looking confused and embarassed, "Ishiko-chan, what happened…?" she chuckled from behind Deidara's shoulder. Sasori looked away.

Deidara finally let the girl go. Still grabbing her shoulder, he told her. "Akane-chan, I'm sorry, but I'm not exactly being truthful to you…"

Akane looked at Ishiko with a questioning look, and turned to Hiruko, but the red-haired girl just staring at her back with an unreadable expression.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

-,-,-

Kakuzu and Hidan appeared in front of of Mori Kinomoto, the Kinomoto heir on his way back from jounin tryout. The man looked young, probably the same age as Akane. He wasn't exactly in a peak condition, from a brief observation he probably only sprained a few muscles, sustaining a few kunai stabs and a cracked ribs. But still, he could be much worse than that, judging that he was just trying out as a jounin.

"Mori Kinomoto?" Kakuzu stopped him.

The addressed man automatically on guard. "Who's asking?"

"My name is… Kotaro Ishigoro, I'm a messenger from Ame." Kakuzu answered quietly, not wanting to cause a ruckus and risk suspicion to Leaf shinobi. The young man suddenly looked tense. The next split second he threw out some kunai and jumped high, ready to slice this Kotaro Ishigoro with his katana in two pieces.

However, the next thing he knew, his wrists were tied by wires and his body was yanked to the ground.

"We need to talk. I must ask your cooperation, or my bodyguard here," Kakuzu motioned to Hidan who was now grinning maniacally next to him, "Will have to resort to violence."

-,-,-

Three days afterwards, Team Kakuzu, consisted of Kakuzu himself, Hidan, Sasori and Deidara was assembled in Pein's office for a debriefing. It was another rainy day at Ame, and it surely didn't help enlighting their mood.

"You failed the mission."

It wasn't a question. It was a statement. A statement which very well felt like a bitch-slap to their faces—so much worse than a sword stab to the limbs.

"Somebody care… to explain to me? Why did you fail such a B-rank, chuunin level mission?" Pein's voice was getting lower and dangerous.

Deidara shifted uncomfortable.

Their Leader stared at them with much disappointment and frustration. "How, would you explain the death of the girl you supposed to bring back?" Pein shouted and slammed his desk, looking furious and in rage.

Deidara gulped.

"A-Akane…" he stuttered, "burnt herself to death as soon as we let her out from our sight." he answered, unable to look Pein on the eyes. Unable to face his memory of the unfortunate girl. He made a mistake, he knew. He and Sasori both made the fatal mistake, but mostly him. Or maybe it was Hidan and Kakuzu's fault too. Or maybe it was Pein's fault for giving them such a tragic mission. Or maybe fate just decided to play with them, play with their conscience, play with the supposedly cruel, S-rank Akatsuki ninja. Who ironically, ended up failing miserably on a B-rank chuunin mission.

As Deidara hid his face, Sasori recalled back the events from his memory…

-,-,-

Akane didn't seem like she could comprehend it all too well when Deidara told her that she was originally from Kinomoto family, the very same family as her beloved Mori Kinomoto. Sasori told her that it wasn't a coincidence that they were drawn to each other. It was no coincidence that they born in the same day, in the same year, and it was no coincidence that everytime the sat together in silence, they knew what each other was thinking.

Because they were twins.

Sasori told her that it was the reason her father got furious when Mori Kinomoto proposed to him, because he knew the truth. He knew that both Akane and Mori were twins, born in the same day in the Kinomoto residence. Deidara said, Amasaka family took her by force and raised her as their own, but in the same time, her twin brother also being raised as Kinomoto family heir. And one unfortunate day, Mori Kinomoto decided to visit Ame when he was 13 years old, met a girl and fell in love. Mori then decided to go try out as a chuunin in Ame, and later as a jounin. He became a permanent Ame resident in order to stay close to the girl he loved.

Akane didn't seem like she could comprehend it all too well when Sasori told her that Daidoji-sama, the bar's owner was a distant cousin of Kinomoto family… and that he was the one who told the Amasaka family their daughter's location after seeing the striking resemblance they bore each other. Sasori told her, that probably Daidoji had his own suspicion.

The girl looked like she was in denial when she ran through the narrow alleyways and streets to where her beloved Mori-kun was. And there he was, looking like a ghost. His eyes were blank and his face paled. He couldn't even stand straight as he had to lean on the wall since his legs could no longer support his weight.

When their gazes locked, something must have clicked in her. Something must have told her that everything Sasori and Deidara just told her were the truth. As horror dawning on her, she pulled her hair with both her hands and screamed. She screamed and screamed and ran back to the bar. Of course, Deidara and Sasori chased after her and tried to calm her, but it's not easy trying to restrain someone who was in the brink of losing her mind.

That night, Deidara mainly doing the talking, and Akane merely doing the listening. After a while, she agreed to go back to Ame. Relieved, Deidara and Sasori started to move on with their things. Sasori went ahead to inform Kakuzu and Hidan so they can meet them at the gate, Deidara was holding Akane's hand as he quietly guided her through the stairs and through the front bar. Akane told him that she wanted to go to the bathroom, so Deidara nodded and followed her. She told him that their bathroom in their room was too far, there was one near the kitchen. Deidara nodded again, and waited outside the bathroom door when Akane slipped through the back door, pouring kerosene from the storage just outside of the kitchen and light herself.

Deidara realized something was wrong when he smelled the kerosene, but it was too late. She was already burning by the time he reached her. She couldn't hear him screaming her name, she couldn't hear Meisa, Mari and Aya-chan's siren cries over her. She couldn't hear the panic state she caused the bar's visitors who were running around in panic over something burnt in the building. She didn't see when Sasori grabbed Deidara's hand and ordered him to leave the city.

Because it was too late.

She was burning brightly, as bright as her love for Mori Kinomoto, her twin brother and her lover. Forbidden to marriage, bound by blood.

-,-,-

Deidara and Sasori were back in Sasori's room. They had just gone through the most depressing debriefing they had ever experienced.

Both shinobi kept in silence. Sasori was sitting on his desk, and Deidara was lying on the bed. For a few hours, none of them had spoken.

Until Deidara suddenly sat up. "What happened to the other twin?" the look on his face was slightly alarmed.

The Suna-nin tilted his head as if musing about something. "After finding out Akane's death? I don't know. Kill himself too, probably?"

Deidara scoffed. "You're cruel, Danna." Sasori just smirked to that remark.

"Who decide what is allowed and what's not in this world, yeah…?" Deidara asked curiously.

Sasori shrugged. "Society, I suppose."

His blond partner thought for a long while, and was heard mumbling to himself. "Marriage between siblings is unheard of, I know… yeah."

Deidara was half-hoping to get a certain response from the Suna-nin, but he got none.

"I won't listen to society, yeah… If one day I do find someone who I can safely say I love, I'll go after them with all my heart, I don't care what people say, yeah." He rolled around and resting his cheek on his hand, "What about you, Danna?"

Sasori raised one eyebrow, throwing a glance at his partner. "I'd worry more about what kind of punishment Leader-sama will come up with, rather than worrying about a love-life." The Suna-nin looked up to Deidara. "If I were the type of person who cared of what society would think, I wouldn't have turned myself into a puppet, Dei-_chan_. As you know, it's not a very orthodox thing to do." he let out a small chuckle.

Deidara felt a pang on his heart when he saw the smile on that angelic face and quicky looked away.

"… …"

"Something you wanna say to me, Deidara?"

"I think you're cruel, yeah, Sasori-danna."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"… I don't know. I think you just are."

=,=,=,=


	12. Chapter 12

One week had passed after their last unfortunate event and failed mission. In that one week, a series of events had happened.

One, Pein had told their client the fact that their daughter had commited suicide right before his men had the chance to bring her back to Ame (he hid the fact that technically Akane killed herself because of the revelation brought by his Akatsuki—he thought it was unnecessary; their failure had already been very degrading without him having to explain the truth).

Two, Kakuzu and Hidan had stopped talking to Sasori and Deidara completely. They were still pissed at how the two artists jeopardized their last mission by doing such elementary mistake. Of course, 'not talking' is another word a 'childish argument', but there was hardly anything childish in this since both groups first had their full-blown fight which resulted in a bloodbath for Hidan, some broken limbs (but nothing serious) for Sasori, the lost of _two hearts _for Kakuzu, and a serious injury for Deidara. First the blond Iwa-nin blown Hidan into pieces and then Kakuzu almost finished Deidara off with his many jutsu. After that Sasori went into a frenzy mode and ripped Kakuzu's heart, not just one, but _two_ hearts. They're Akatsuki, a group of S-ranks criminals. Naturally, killing is permitted. But Pein was throwing a tantrum when he saw the state of his members when it happened. He said that he would need as much manpower as possible to carry on their big plan, and it won't help him—or the Akatsuki much if four of their members were incapacitated.

Third, consequently, seeing the state they're at, Pein decided not to give them further punishment, as they already punished each other quite severely.

After that fight, Hidan's missing limbs were immediately put back by his partner (and then not long after Kakuzu had set off to find more hearts to replace the ones Sasori had destroyed). The puppeteer immediately replaced his broken or unusable body parts with the new ones. Not so fortunate with Deidara, who was considered the most normal person compared to the other three. He didn't have a Jashinist's immortality, or replaceable body parts, or five hearts as spares. What worse, was that he couldn't even risk losing a limb because Kakuzu wouldn't be there to sewn them back back together.

Deidara suffered a second and maybe third degree burnt from Kakuzu's lightning and fire jutsu, medium concussion, and few broken ribs. Sasori was furious as none of his comrades took specialize in healing. 'We're killers, we take life, not preserve them.' said Zetsu nonchalantly when Sasori stomped from room to room looking for someone who was in the least have a bit knowledge of medical jutsu. Finally Konan stepped up to save the day, she might not be a proficient healer, but she knew some basic medical jutsu to give Deidara some first aid. Lucky for the Iwa-nin, Kabuto went back that night from his mission so he could very well give Deidara the necessary treatment.

Still, Deidara was told not to move from his bed for maybe two or three days afterwards.

"I can't stay in a room for three fucking days, Danna!" Deidara protested the next morning, already trying to sit. Sasori growled and grab Deidara's shoulder, not-so-gently, and pushed him back to a sleeping position. "You don't want to make me hurt you more so than you already are." he snarled.

His blond partner rolled his eyes, "I'm fine, Sasori-danna. Ouch!" he cringed when sasori poked his broken ribs. "Listen brat, medical jutsu can only do so much. Your body still needs to cope like a normal person!"

"Oh yeah? Why, Sasori? Because you and the rest of them are hardly human?" his injured partner angrily snapped. For a moment Sasori didn't retort. His face didn't tell Deidara anything, really, but the blond Iwa-nin regretted it almost instantly. He looked troubled between wanting to take back his words and to get recognition. He was the newest member in the organization – well technically, Tobi was the newest one, but still – the problem was Sasori kept treating him like kid. Heck, he was Akatsuki too; he was supposed to be on par with all of them, not below them. In their fight just now, Sasori was trying to have Hidan for himself and keeping him as far as possible from Deidara. No doubt that he was afraid of what Hidan's Jashin ritual might do to the blond Iwa-nin. Sasori should be quite safe, as long as he could keep his heart out of Hidan's reach, but Deidara? He was as vulnerable to the ritual as any other human.

Now, what is this unnecessary precaution Sasori thought he needed to take to 'protect' his partner? Didn't he think Deidara was more than capable to stand in the same footing with Hidan? It was such a subtle insult the blond-nin couldn't believe his partner was doing it to him.

"…"

"Sasori… danna… I'm…"

"Go to sleep, Deidara." Sasori said curtly, interrupting whatever sentence Deidara was about to say. The Suna-nin turned his back to his partner, walked towards Deidara's desk and sit there. He reached somewhere in his cloak and took out a book.

_Huh?_

Deidara wasn't sure. "You're not leaving?"

"… No…" was Sasori's only reply.

The explosive expert blinked his eyes a few times, unable to grasp what was happening. Was his partner doing this out of boredom? Or kindness? Or… or was he planning to keep watch over him, afraid that Kakuzu and Hidan might come anytime through the door to kill him? Which is it? Deidara thought he wouldn't be able to sleep if he couldn't figure out Sasori's motive and _soon_.

"Why, danna?" he asked finally, almost to no one in particular, as his eyes were fixed in the ceiling. Sasori didn't answer.

"You think I'm weak, yeah?" Deidara frowned, but still refused to look straight at the Suna artist. "Did you think I wouldn't have won that fight with Hidan? Well, I won, yeah. I blew him up."

Sasori stopped reading whatever book he had with him and put it aside (Deidara doubted that he was reading it, anyway). His partner was quiet for a moment. The blond-nin couldn't resist throwing a glance at him. The redhead looked like he was debating whether or not he was going to respond to his ramble. Deidara was starting to wonder if Sasori had ignored him and returned to his own room when he heard the Suna artist said, in a clear, steady voice.

"Let's go on a picnic, Deidara."

_Huh? _Deidara mouth hanged open. If anything, he certainly did not expect this. He was starting to worry that he might have misheard his partner words (who knew, probably his ears got hurt in the fight and affected his hearing ability?), when Sasori looked at him and smiled.

"When you've recovered. I say… in three days? If you can manage a full recovery in three days, I promise you we will go on a picnic."

Deidara blinked a few times. And then added a few times more. He felt a heat crept to his cheeks as he tried to ignore the fluttery sensation in his stomach in response to Sasori's remark. Heck, probably his face had just turned very red now. He wasn't acting normal, he realized. Why would he blush to his partner's promise to ask him out on a date? That's just ridiculous. Partners date all the time, don't they? _No, they don't,_ Deidara corrected himself.

Sasori stood up and walked towards Deidara's bed. The blond Iwa-nin tried to ignore him as much as he could, eyes still fixed to the ceiling (though his flushed face kind of betrayed him). The older shinobi took his time to sit on Deidara's bed. Keeping his disarming smile in his lips, Sasori told him in an icy tone.

"That's why, I advise you to shut up and do as I told you. If I'm telling you to go sleep, you go sleep. If I'm telling you to drink your medicine, you do as told. And if I'm telling you to stay in your room for a three fucking days, _stay in your room_." the Suna-nin growled. Deidara went pale. What the…?

He needed to come up with an answer now. _Now_, fast.

"Umm… But then I… I will be bored to death, Danna." he gulped.

Sasori shrugged. "Hmm. Well. Consider yourself lucky. I'm staying here if you need of some company. Might not be much, though, don't get your hopes up." the Suna-nin looked away, avoiding Deidara's shocked expression. _Huh?_ Okay, that was a third 'huh?' just now. What was wrong with Sasori today? He couldn't be doing this out of kindness, could he? Deidara felt confusion started to consume him as he finally gave up and classified it as one of "Sasori's antics". He swore that man was a mystery. A closed book. And Deidara swore that he would one day force the book open and figuring him out.

He didn't know then, but that day might be come sooner than he thought.

=.=.=.=.=

A/N: Wooow… already the 12th chapter? And it's counting! 33 Please review if you have time, I would appreciate it very much. Thank you


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Heya! So I just re-reading this story from chapter 1 to 12 and I have to admit that there are SO many holes in the story! I can't even begin to list them one by one… I'm so sorry! One of the goofs were that Deidara should be wearing something to cover those mouths on his palms when he was undercover, but I totally forgot to mention them. Etc… etc… etc…

Anyway, moving on.

=,=,=

It's been two days since their clash with Kakuzu and Hidan, and unless Deidara needed to use the bathroom, the blond was simply grounded to his room, and even more specifically, his bed. At some point, the Suna artist seemed to have moved a few of his belongings and so for the past two days had been practically living in Deidara's room. The currently injured Iwa-nin could spot the familiar models and props that used to be sitting on his partner's desk now sitting on his.

Deidara watched in half-bewilderment and half-amusement that his partner seemed to enjoy playing nurse with him (aside of the fact that the real doctor was Kabuto). Sasori was the one who went back and forth to the kitchen to get his food, his drink or medicine, and didn't even complain. He made sure the injured shinobi eat properly and drink his medicine on time. What worse, was that Deidara never saw Sasori asleep. He almost always sat on his desk, tinkering with his tools, being oblivious to the Iwa-nin unless it was the time for meal or medicine. He even changed his bandages once. And he did it _gently_. Receving all those attention to the point of caring from someone as anti-social as Sasori were both overwhelming and rather scary for Deidara.

The Iwa-nin was curious beyond measure. His partner was being somewhat out of character. However, the more mischievous part of him was intrigued by this. How far would his partner go? How far would he comply to listen to Deidara's requests?

This was the third day, early in the morning. Deidara fluttered his eyes open and yawn. "Morning, Sasori-danna." he said cheerfully.

"Hn." was Sasori's only reply.

From his bed, Deidara was eyeing his partner curiously. Again, Sasori was sitting on his desk and tinkering with his stuff. Is it safe to testing out his theory? Or would it be dangerous? The Suna-artist hadn't sleep for practically three days now, Deidara felt a bit worry about his mood. But in the end, curiosity got the better of him.

"Danna..." he called Sasori tentatively.

"Hn."

"My head feels itchy, yeah. I haven't shower in three days, and my hair feels greasy and dirty." he frowned, raking his fingers through his head and scratch a spot, and then moved to another spot.

"You can't shower yet, Deidara. Kabuto said your wound need three days to be healed completely. You can shower tomorrow." Sasori said flatly, did not bother to look at the blond shinobi and instead focusing on whatever he was working on.

Deidara pouted. "But it feels greasy, and I can't see my hair but it must have been tangled and messy, yeah. You can't imagine the effort I make to keep my hair healthy and shiny, Sasori-danna."

He was waiting for reply, but the Suna-nin seemed to be ignoring him. Not getting the response he wanted, Deidara scowled. "You wouldn't know, Danna. Your hair is short and always a mess. And you're a puppet so you never showered. Like—eew."

To the last remark, Sasori finally stopped doing whatever he was doing and rolled his eyes. He turned his head to look at his grouchy partner and asked with a flat voice. "What do you want?"

Deidara grinned mentally in triumph. _Another one-zero for Deidara!_ he shouted inwardly.

"At least can you comb my hair? It feels really uncomfortable. I would, but my muscles are still sore… And I have a very long _tangled _hair." he asked blatantly, maintained a straight face so his partner couldn't see he was scheming.

For a good five seconds Sasori didn't speak anything. Deidara kept his annoyed expression while scratching his head, giving impression as if he couldn't stand the itch.

Slowly, Sasori stood up, opened Deidara's drawer and took out a white comb (the blond shinobi had no idea how Sasori knew he kept his comb there—but he wouldn't be surprised if Sasori had searched his room when he was asleep).

Deidara felt an odd sense of anticipation when his partner slowly walked towards his bed and told him to sit.

The younger shinobi did as told, carefully stretched his muscles a bit and sat up. Sasori stood next to Deidara and decided that it wasn't a good position for the task. So he lowered his body and sat on the bed right behind his partner. He began to comb Deidara's hair by first taking all of his long blond hair in his hand. There were a few lose strands so Sasori had to take them too, as he raked his fingers through the blond's hair. When Sasori's fingers unintentionally brushed his ears and neck to get the strands, it took nearly all of Deidara's will power to fight the color from creeping up to his cheeks.

_Damn it,_ Deidara felt his heart pounding when he realized his partner was taking his sweet time caressing his hair. He can feel him combing his hair and occassionally touching his shoulders, his back, ears, and neck. The small touches were gentle, no more than little brushes to his bare skin. Deidara's breathing quickened. Every incidental touch shot a tingling feeling to his stomach, and it felt even worse by the second. Deidara held back a shiver. He started to feel a little bit dazed and hot when Sasori finally pat his shoulder.

"Done."

The Suna-nin fluidly stood to the floor, without saying any more words returned to Deidara's drawer and put back the white comb. When he turned to his desk, Deidara could swear he saw a flash of smirk on the Suna-nin's face, but it was gone before Deidara could register. If only Sasori would glance to Deidara's way, he would find the Iwa-nin flushed and slightly catching his breath. But he didn't. Instead, he ignored Deidara until breakfast time when he stood up and left his room for the kitchen.

_Damn it_, Deidara cursed again. His plan had backfired. He had a strong feeling that it wasn't one-zero for him, but rather one-zero for Sasori. He didn't know what the Suna artist had planned, but he doubted that those small touches that seemed accidental and innocent… were truly accidental and innocent. He grumbled mentally. It seemed that almost all of his plans were backfired. Was he really vulnerable to Sasori? Deidara raked his hand through the now smooth blond hair of his and vowed that he would get Sasori back. He just needed to be patient to wait for tomorrow, because Sasori had promised him a date and he can be sure as hell will use this sweet opportunity to pay him back.

=.=.=.=


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Wow! Last time I wrote was 2011 !**

**I never thought anyone even read this anymore, until a few days ago someone kind goes by the name of 'Bitterness11' left me a review and got me thinking... people do still read this story. And the last chapter did end in a cliffhanger... so at least I'd like to do something about that. Thank you Bitterness11 for your review and to have resurrected this fic from its 4 year long slumber! **

_**Moving on...**_

-,-,-

IF you told a kid that you would take them to, say, a theme park the next day, chances are they'd be having trouble sleeping that night out of excitement. Either that or they woke up at sunrise, all hyped up running around the house, waking up everybody else asleep.

Luckily, Deidara was only _half_ a kid.

He opened his eyes at sunrise, and the first thing he thought was _the_ picnic. Second, he tried to feel his muscles and his wounds by did a little stretching. To his relief, he didn't feel pain, if any, probably were just some sore muscles. He quickly turned his head to locate Sasori, but his usual spot on the desk was visibly empty. He glanced across the room but it seemed that his partner wasn't there. Hmmm... where could he be?

Deidara furrowed his brow a little. It's unusual _not_ to spot Sasori in his room after the past few days he's been on standby like an obedient (and annoying) nurse.

The creak of a door being opened signaled Sasori's return and the blond felt relieved. He didn't even realize that he was somewhat feeling rather anxious without the elder shinobi's presence nearby. Deidara sat up on the bed, watching Sasori carried his breakfast tray.

"Last time." the redhead spoke curtly, placing the tray on the desk.

Deidara grinned. "Hell yeah!" saying that, Deidara dropped both his legs on the floor and stood up, stretching his body left and right. Kabuto was truly wonderful in his own way, Deidara can't feel a trace of pain on his muscles.

He sat down and started to gobble down his breakfast.

"So… when are we going? Where to?" he asked with a mouthful. Expression remained unchanged, his partner curtly answered, "Good to know that your appetite has returned." but refrained to say anything more.

"Come on, Danna... where are you going to _-cough- _take me on our _-cough-_ first date?" it could be because he was eating so fast but Deidara had started to cough and there was a tint of pink on his face. The fact that he's then grabbed a glass of water and gulping it down to the last drop failed to give away the true reason of his sudden coughing.

Some trace of water was still left hanging around his lips, and rolled over his chin. Deidara subconsciously used the back of his left hand over to brush off the water. He was about to grab his chopsticks and continue eating when suddenly his movement got halted midair, his eyes widened in still-shock.

Sasori's thumb caressed his lower lips, wiping away the remaining drop of water.

"There there. Don't eat too fast, it can be dangerous." the redhead spoke nonchalantly, indifferent to the fact that his blond partner remained paralyzed. "When you're done, get downstairs. I'll be waiting for you outside the gate." The Suna-nin's voice was soft, and somewhat deep, filled with something resembling a subdued emotion. He then stood up and quietly left the room.

After Sasori had left, Deidara's hand that was stopping midair suddenly dropped on the table. He looked taken aback, and went without saying that his heartbeat's rate went up for more than just a little bit faster. Right then, all thoughts were being jumbled into one big mess inside his brain. _Why? Why? Why did he do that?_, was the question that most stood out. The rest of the thoughts ranged from _'It's a trick, a genjutsu'_ to _'It's not Sasori, it's someone else using henge to mess with me.'_

A few minutes and one unsolved mystery later, he decided that he needed shower... so almost like an automaton, the Iwa-nin stood up and went to the bathroom.

-,-,-

Sasori clenched his hands tightly when entering his room, leaving the door open as he apparently too occupied with something else to care.

_'What? Why? Why did I do that?' _was the question that most stood out. Several answers popped out almost immediately, trying to offer explanations... ranged from _'I was under a mind trick. Someone had cast a genjutsu on me' _to _'He's such a kid, I'm just being paternal'_. None of them had satisfied him.

The gears inside his wooden head operated in top-speed. He didn't know why he did what he did. It was an impulse... but on what basis, he didn't really understand.

"Is there something wrong, Sasori-san?"

Sasori tensed as Itachi's voice was heard from behind him right outside the room. For the first time then, the Suna-nin seemed to realize that he had yet to close the door. Mentally cursing himself, he quickly reinstated his poker face.

"Nothing that you should concern yourself with, Itachi." he stated curtly and turned to face the Uchiha. If anything he had learned from the years they had been members of the Akatsuki, was that he knew how perceptive Itachi could be. That was really not the time to being figured out by other people, not when Sasori himself hadn't quite understood what had happened himself. So he coldly took his leave without saying much.

Itachi bowed a little as Sasori went past him. One glance from his dark eyes on Sasori's direction was enough to cast an invisible wave of something curious, even though the Suna-nin didn't actually see what kind of expression Itachi had.

-,-,-

Around 9 AM, Deidara crossed the main gate of the Akatsuki's lair.

"You're late."

Sasori sat on top of rocky hill next to the entrance where his partner had stood. The Suna-nin didn't even look at him as he was apparently readying Hiruko.

Strangely, Deidara felt a peculiar pang as he saw his partner's bored expression so soon after their 'incident' earlier this morning. He felt his face got warm as he remembered the elder shinobi's fingers brushing his lips.

"Y-you didn't really specify when I should come!" he blurted in defense. His partner only raised one eyebrow and smirked, "You're right, I didn't. Soon you'll see that it's not the only thing I didn't specify."

Deidara opened his mouth to inquire, but before he could say anything, Sasori had gotten himself settled into Hiruko, and had started to move towards the direction of the forest.

"Wa-wait! Ugh." the Iwa ninja gritted his teeth and followed him. They ran through the familiar forest, the Suna-nin took the road uphill towards a clearing Deidara knew would be visible in the distance if they kept taking the route. "Where are we going, Sasori-danna?"

The trees were getting sparse, and the sunlight shined through. And then the end of the forest path took them to a prairie on cliffy grassland. The greenery was nice, the weather was warm, and the sky had just enough clouds to shield them from direct sunlight. There was a beautiful stream with water as clear as crystals, some berry shrubs and flowers can be spotted near the forest's entrance, as well as apple trees and orange trees which conveniently found scattered around the area.

But for now, none of the above had managed to impress Deidara, as he was too dumb stricken for other things... _Six _other things. To be more specific, six other _Akatsuki_ members. He saw Tobi climbed a tree to get a better look at the bees that nested there with Zetsu silently watching him. He saw Itachi and Kisame sitting calmly on a mat as the latter apparently showing his partner some of his cards collection. Konan was teaching Pein, who looked miserable, how to make a kind of origami.

"What in the...?" Deidara's voice was almost inaudible.

Sasori, still under Hiruko's perfect cover, watching his partner's reaction and, rather out of character, grinned. Sort of a smug smile, mixed with amusement. Watching Deidara's expression was simply priceless for him.

"I said, _'let's go on a picnic'_. I never said it would only be the two of us..."

Deidara looked like he was torn between murdering Sasori and murdering himself.


End file.
